Machine for handling cards



.Sept. 22, 1925.

A. A. HASSELQUIST MCHINE FOR HANDLING CARDS 3 1Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 8, 1925 Se t. 22, 1925.

A. A. HASSELQUIST momma: FOR HANDLING CARDS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 8, 1925 jlerfazfi guosz Rm SY' Sept. 22, 1925. 1,554,429

A. A. HASSELQUIST MACHINE FOR HANDLING CARDS Filed J 8, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 m I 4 l 22 1 mimm mmmi miq. l

Patented'Sept. 22, 1925.

UNITED sTATEs ALBERT A. HASSELQUIST, OF ELGIN, ILLINOIS.

MACHINE FOfR HANDLING CARDS.

Application filed January 8, 1923. Serial No. 611,252.-

To all whom it my concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT A. HASSEL- QUIST, a citizen of the United States, residing at'Elgin, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois. have-invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Machines for Handling Cards, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

The object of-the present invention is the provision of mechanism for lifting a single card or sheet of material from the top of a stack of similar cards or sheets. For some purposes it is desirable to gather one card from each of several stacks and assemble the gathered cards in a single stack.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings the mechanism is designed to accomplish this purpose;

Figure l is a side elevation of mechanism embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of a lifting device.

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 in Figure 2.

. Figure 4 is a section on the line 4.4 in

Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale of the lower end of the lifting device and the top of a stack of cards.

Figure 6 is a plan view of the parts shown in Figure 5.

The mechanism illustrated is designed to lift the top card 1 from a stack of cards held in a holder 2 and pressed upwardly by a spring pressed plunger 3. A cranked hold-down bar 4 rests on the top card and extends transversely of the card between the ends of the card, the cranked ends of the bar 4-. being journaled in the holder 2 and a weight 5 being adjustably secured to one of the cranked ends of the bar.

A supporting or lifting device 6 is reciprocable toward and from the top of the stack of cards. The support 6 depends from a pipe 7 formed with an air passage 8, the support 6 being formed with a communicating air passage 9. In order that the support 6 may be longitudinally adjusted it is made in two parts secured together by a threaded connector 10 and the parts may be locked in adjusted position by a nut 11.

A needle valve 12 is designed completely to block the air passage 9 when desired. In the mechanism illustrated the pipe 7 with the support 6 is carried by an arm 13 pivoted on a fixed shaft 14 and a link 15 connects the arm 13 with a crank disk 16.

A shaft 17 is oscillatorily mounted in the lower end of the support 6 and a pair of arms 18 are secured on the opposite ends of the shaft. At their outer ends each of the arms 18 is provided with a flexible cup 19, the shaft 17 and arms 18 being formed with air passages 28 communicating with an an air passage 9 in the support 6 and opening into the cups 19. A bar' 20 is secured to the tops of the arms 18 and is formed with a slot 21 engaged by the head 22 of a piston 23. The piston 23 is angularly slidable in the support 6 and is interiorly open to the air passage 9 so that vacuum in the air passage is operable to retract the piston. The bar 20 is also formed with a slot 24. A catch 25 is pivoted to the side of the support 6 and is formed with a notch 26 normally engaging the edge of the slot 24. The lower end of the catch 25 normally extends downwardly to the plane of the lower edges of the cups 19 so that when the cups are flexed against a card by depression of the support 6 the end of the catch will strike the card and release the engagement between the notch 26 and the edge of the slot 24.

In operation vacuum in the air passage- 8928 will automatically and alternately be established and disestablished by suitable mechanism. Vacuum in the passage being established the support 6 descends until the cups 19 are in firm contact with the surface of the top card and the cups are slightly flexed, the catch 25 preventing upward movement of the arms 18 until this contact is established. When the cups are firmly in contact with the card and slightly flexed the projecting lower end of the catch 25 strikes the card and swings to release the bar 20. The vacuum in the air passage holds the card firmly against the cups and as soon as the bar 20 is released the vacuum also retracts the piston 23, thus swinging the arms 18 upwardly. The pressure of the hold-down bar 4' is sufiicient to restrain bodily movement of the card by the swinging of the arms 18 so that when the arms swing upwardly they bend a marginal portion of the top card upwardly around the bar 4. Bending of the marginal portion of the card upwardly before attempting to lift the card bodily makes certain that the attraction between the two top cards Wlll be destroyed so "that the top card may thereafter be lifted bodily from the stack without disturbing the underlying card. If desirable, accomplishment of this result may be aided by pointed screws 29 threaded in the wall of the holder 2, the points of the screws barely engaging the edge of the top cards. The bending force applied to the top card by the swinging of the arm 18 1s suflicient to cause the edge of the top card to pass the points of the screws 29 but the latter.

will effectually prevent passage of the edge of the second card.

After the marginal portion of the card has been bent upwardly the support 6 is raised and by this movement the top card 1s lifted bodily from the stack, the force of the lifting movement and of the engagement of the card with the cups 19 being sufficient to overcome the yielding pressure of the holddown bar 4. During its rising movement the support 6 with its card is swung over the receiver 27, whereupon the vacuum n the air passage is broken and the card 1S dropped onto the recelver whlle the piston 23, the arms 18 and the catch 25 retu rn to normal position, and the operation is repeated.

In the preferred form of mechanism, one unit of which is illustrated, there are a? plurality of stacks 2, a plurality of supports 6 suspended from the pipe 7, and the receiver 27 is a traveling conveyor. The cards in one stack will be uniform but the cards in the several stacks will be different. During operation of the mechanism the top cards from each stack will be lifted and deposited on the conveyor 27 which is continuallyv advancing so that when a card lifted from any of the stacks after the first is deposited it will be dropped on a pile ofcards previously lifted from the preceding stacks of the series and deposited on the conveyor. As a result, there are gathered on the conveyor a plurality of piles of cards, each pile consisting of one card from each of the stacks 2 of the series. If it is desired not to gather cards from one or more of the stacks the air passage of the support 6 reciprocable above that stack may be closed by the screw 12 so that the mechanism carried by that support will be ineffective.

It is deemed unnecessary to illustrate the mechanism for controlling the pressure of air in the air passages. This mechanism may be of any usual form adapted alternately to establish suction and atmospheric pressure in the air passages and if desirable it may be formed to establish greater than atmospheric pressure at the time of the deposit of the card on the receiver. 4

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a transfer mechanism, means to engage and secure a sheet of material for transfer, auxiliary means to engage said sheet, and means operative upon engagement of said auxiliary means with said sheet for moving the first said means to lift said sheet.

2. In a transfer mechanism, means to engage and secure a sheet of material for transfer, auxiliary mechanism to engage said sheet upon contact of, said engaging means with said sheet, and means automatically responsive to contact of said auxiliary means with said sheet for causing the first said means to lift a Igarginal portion of the s eet.

3. In a transfer mechanism, pivoted suction means adapted to secure a sheet of material for transfer, auxiliary means adapted to engage said sheet, and means releasable upon engagement of said auxiliary 'means and sheet to move said suction means about its pivot.

4. In mechanism of the class described, the combination of a reciprocable support, an arm pivoted to the support, the support and arm being formed with an air passage having an orifice on the under side of the arm, and a piston slidable in the support and connected with the arm and upwardly movable by vacuum in the air passage.

5. In mechanism of the class described, the combination of a reciprocable support, an arm pivoted to the support, a flexible cup secured to the under side of the arm, the support and arm being formed with an air passage communicating withthe cup, a piston slidable in the support and connected with the arm and upwardly movable by vacuum in the air passage, and an upwardly releasable catch pivoted to the support and engaging the arm and projecting below the cup when the latter is flexed.

6. In mechanism of the class described, the combination of a reciprocable support, a pair of spaced arms pivoted to the lower end of the support, a pair of flexible cups secured to the under sides of the respective arms at their outer ends, the support and arms being formed with an air passage communicating with the cups, a bar connecting the arms, a piston angularly slidable in the support and connected with the bar and upwardly movable by vacuum in the air passage, and a catch pivoted to the support and port reciprocable toward and from the sheet, an arm pivoted to the support, the support and arm being formed with an air passage having an orifice on the under side of the arm adapted to contact with the outer surface of the sheet, and a piston slidable in the support and connected with the arm and upwardly movable by vacuum in the air passage.

8. In mechanism of the class described, the combination of a bar adapted yieldingly to rest on a sheet of material transversely of the sheet between the ends thereof, a longitudinally, adjustable support reciprocable toward and from the sheet, an arm pivoted to the lower end of the support, the support and arm being formed with an air passage having an orifice on-the under side of the arm adapted to contact with the outer surface of the sheet, and a iston slidable in the support ,and connecte with the arm and upwardly movable by vacuum in the air passage.

9. In mechanism of the class described, the combination of a bar adapted yieldingly torest on a sheet of material transversely of the sheet between the ends thereof, a support reciprocable toward and from the sheet, a pair spaced arms pivoted to the lower end of the support, a pair of flexible cups secured to the under sides of the respective arms at their outer ends and adapted to contact with the outer surface of the sheet, the support and arms being formed with an air passage communicatin with the cups, and a piston slidable in t e support and connected with the arms and upwardly movable by vacuum in the air passage.

arms at their outer ends and adapted to contact with the outer surface of the sheet, the support and arms being formed with an air passage communicating with the cups, a piston slidable in the support and connected with the arms and upwardly movable by vacuum in the air passage, and a pin adapted to engage the edge of the sheet.

11. In mechanism of the class described, the combination of a bar adapted yieldingly to rest on a sheet of material transversely of the sheet between the ends thereof, a support reciprocable toward and from the sheet, a pair of spaced arms pivoted to the lower end of the support, a pair of flexible cups secured to the under sides of the respective arms at their outer ends and adapted to contact'with the outer surface of the sheet, the support and arms being formed with an air passage communicating with the cups, a p iston slidable in the support and connected with the arms and upwardly movable by vacuum in the air passage, and an upwardly releasable catch pivoted to the support and engaging, the arms and projecting below the cups when the latter are flexed.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 30th day of December, 1922.

ALBERT A. HASSELQUIST. 

